Taylor Twellman made a successful return to the field, scoring a goal in the New England Revolution's 2-1 victory against Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center on Sunday afternoon.
Twellman's second-half goal was his first of the year after missing all of the Revs' first seven games of the season while recovering from knee surgery before the season started.
Kenny Mansally scored the go-ahead goal for the Revs in the first half. Both goals were setup by Steve Ralston, who made his second consecutive appearance after missing five matches through injury.
Chivas USA added a late consolation goal through Justin Braun, his first professional goal. But it wasn't enough to keep the home side from seeing their winless streak extended to five games on the season.
Chivas USA had the game's first threat on goal in the 10th minute. Ante Razov sent a pass into the Revs penalty area that Jesse Marsch hit first-time. His shot, though, was just wide left of the goal.
Later, Mansally nearly capitalized on a dreadful back pass by Chivas USA defender Eric Ebert. Ebert had the ball on the left side of the field when he sent a soft pass back towards his own penalty area. Mansally immediately broke towards the ball but was met just outside the penalty area by a sliding Brad Guzan, who arrived in time to clear the ball out of play.
Mansally, however, made no mistake in the 18th minute. Jeff Larentowicz sent a long pass over the Chivas USA defense and into space for Mansally. The Gambian international collected the pass, dribbled into the Chivas USA penalty area and coolly slotted the ball past Brad Guzan and into the left side of the goal to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. The strike gave Mansally two goals on the season.
The Revs nearly doubled their lead a minute from halftime. This time, it was Mansally on the giving end, threading a pass through two Chivas USA defenders that was controlled by Mauricio Castro. Castro took a touch before ripping a shot from outside the penalty area. Guzan, however, was able to make an impressive save, swatting the ball over the goalpost to keep Chivas USA within a goal heading into the locker room for the intermission.
Taylor Twellman entered the match to begin the second half, coming on in place of Mansally. It was the first action the forward has seen all season after undergoing knee surgery to repair a meniscus tear in early April.
Maykel Galindo missed a chance to equalize for Chivas USA in the 52nd minute when he put a sliding attempt wide right of the Revs goal from close range.
Revs coach Steve Nicol went to his bench again in the 55th minute, bringing in Kheli Dube in place of Castro.
Twellman had his first look at the goal in the 57th minute. He showed some signs of rust, however, as he weakly hit a one-time shot from eight yards out that Guzan easily scooped up.
As it happened, it only took Twellman one poor attempt to shake off any lingering rust.
Just two minutes later, Ralston hit another looping pass into space that Twellman controlled some 35 yards out from goal. Twellman raced towards the penalty area with a defender at his heels before hitting a shot past Guzan for his long-awaited first goal of the season.
Twellman and the Revs were given a scare five minutes later when he went down near midfield clutching his leg. Twellman was tended to by the team's trainer before hobbling off the field. He was able to gingerly walk off the knock on the sideline though, before returning to the field.
He had another chance to put the game on ice and completely seal his return in the 86th minute, but fired wide left of the goal from nine yards out.
Chivas USA finally broke through in stoppage time. Galindo sent a pass across the area to Braun, who fired past two Revs defenders. But the goal proved to be too little too late for Chivas as the match ended moments after the restart, the home side seeing their winless streak extended to five games.
Danny Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
